Home / Poker News December 2013 / iGaming Congressional Hearing – Online Gaming Here to Stay
iGaming Congressional Hearing – Online Gaming Here to Stay
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2013-12-11 10:55
A while ago, casino gambling tycoon Sheldon Adelson announced a crusade against online gaming, saying that he would spare no resources rustling up lobbyists and making a solid case against
internet poker and gambling, which – in his opinion – not only compete with the brick and mortar offerings of various operators (among them several companies of his), but also create addiction and are generally immoral.
The first leg of this crusade kicked off the other day in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade and Adelson’s side was indeed looking to score some major points through it. Unfortunately for them though, supporters of online gaming were well-represented and they were quite effective at preventing Adelson’s men from building up any meaningful momentum.
John Pappas of the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) and Geoff Freeman, CEO of the American Gaming Association, took part in the hearing too, which turned out to be the only one at Congress at the time it took place (yesterday), and which therefore garnered quite a bit more attention than it normally would have.
Besides the above said two online gambling supporters, Sands VP of community development and government relations, Andrew Abboud participated too, together with law professor Kurt Eggert and Rachel Volberg of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Needless to say, Abboud represented Adelson’s viewpoint, and he was the obvious wild-card of the equation.
Everyone was obviously curious to see how Abboud would build up his attack, which didn’t turn out to be much of a surprise. Abboud focused on the DoJ’s 2011 re-interpretation of the Wire Act, which essentially allowed individual states to set up their own online gaming markets. Abboud basically echoed Adelson’s previously expressed opinion that the government should re-instate the previous interpretation of the said Act, while going after offshore companies serving the US market more aggressively.
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